Mungo Man welcomed back to country in dance and song

Dancers, musicians and cultural leaders from Indigenous communities across Australia gathered in south west New South Wales and northern Victoria on the weekend, to celebrate the return of Mungo Man, Australia's oldest known human remains.

'We'll dance his spirit back home'

Five Indigenous dance groups from different parts of the country came to perform, each representing a star in the southern cross, or the points of the compass.

From the north, the Yolngu nation from Galiwinku, Elcho Island and Nhulunbuy in the Norther Territory; from the south, the Tal-kin-jeri dancers from Murray Bridge South Australia; east came from Yarrabah in Queensland; and from the west, the Nyoongar nation and Whadjak from Western Australia.

The fifth star in the constellation of dance was the Barkindji dancers from the Mildura region.

Mawalan Marika, Yolngu Elder and dance leader, said his dancers came to pay their respects.

"I came all this way to show respect to this old man's remains, we have to do some special ceremony for this old man," he said.

Errol Neal (Mulla), leader of the Yarrabah dancers, said the return of Mungo man had wider implication for all of Australia.

"We feel that this is the start of a new era for us, in Aboriginal Australia and mainstream Australia," he said.

"It's time they embrace us Aboriginal people, the oldest living culture in the world.

"We're searching for an identity as a nation, we have that identity that's 40,000 years old and it's time for practical reconciliation, time to start listening to us Aboriginal people."